Their Princess

Chapter 18

“ How's she?” 

“ Daddy!!!” I say excitedly. Alerix looks at me from Harlin and rushes toward me. Enveloping me in his strong arms, I breathe in his scent deeply. I'm safe now. He murmurs something over my head, but it's not audible. Moving away, he cups my face and starts to kiss my eyes, cheeks, nose, forehead, head… but not where I want him to. 

I huff at him, but he only picks me to place me in his lap. “ Good. She is doing better. Now that the smaller chip is placed instead of the larger one.” Eli replies, glaring at Harlin. 

Alerix frowns seriously “ What does that supposed mean?”

Harlin is fidgeting at his place now, refusing to meet any eye. Still, he clears his throat to gain attention or courage, God knows, but he starts speaking. “ Previous chip was slightly large for her. It was built for our kind, but since we didn't have time to build a new one so I just… I…I thought it would work…. So I gave her the one that her nervous system was not able to handle well.” 

“ And that stupid chip could have nearly killed her.” Eli growls loudly, punching his hand on the bed I was sitting on. If Alerix was not sitting on it, I bet it would have moved from the impact.

I'm not scared of Eli's growling, having seen it for the last two hours. Rey was worse when he heard the blunder Harlin had made. Harlin was smart enough to lock himself in the basement before Rey’s fist came anywhere near him. 

Harlin had to threaten Rey and Eli that if they hurt him, he won't be able to check if this chip was suitable for me or not. At this, Rey went outside to calm his raging anger while Eli pampered me. 

I notice that my body is shaking now.  An Earthquake? Or the Ethna quake? I don't know if that's correct. 

I look around and see that only my body is shaking. Before I can overanalyze anything, I hear a deep growl near my ear. I look up to see Alerix’s black eyes. How did he…?

Before I can contemplate more, he gently puts me in Eli’s awaiting arms and moves toward Harlin. Now I'm scared for him. I mean, he didn't know what he was doing. So, I don't want him to get hurt.

Before I can utter a word, Alerix grabs Harlin by his neck and drags him outside. Should I do something?

“ Eli? What should we…?” I trail off. Not moving my eyes away from the door. 

“ He will be fine. Alerix knows we need him. Forget about it. Look at me.” I turned toward him. “ How are you feeling now? Is anything hurting?”

He has been asking me the same question every few minutes, and I reply with the same answer. But this time, I replied with a kiss to his cheek. “ I'm fine, Eli. I promise.” 

I turn when I hear the door open. “ Rey Rey!” I exclaim happily. Finally, he is back. He, like Alerix, clutches me in his arms and kisses all over my face. He says nothing, just holds my hand and sits beside my bed. 

He looks tired, even Eli has got dark circles under his eyes. I guess I really scared them.

“ I'm sorry for scaring you like this.” 

“ It was not your fault, Princess. You suffered so much….” He doesn't continue after that. I sigh and ask them to join me in bed. They look at me funny but do as I say. Eli on my left, Rey on right. I move to face Eli and put Rey’s hand on my waist. 

“ Rey, cuddle me.” Rey huffs a little laugh and moves closer, so now his chest is to my back while I put my arm on Eli's chest. He snuggles closer, too, inhaling my scent from my head.

Rey covers me with my favorite blanket, which they did not forget surprisingly in their hurry and turns the lights off. I snuggle in Eli’s chest and start to fall asleep, but not before hearing Eli whisper “ You scared us, baby. Do not do that ever again.”

—----------------------------------------------

“ How's Rey so calm?” Alerix asks. 

“ He is not. He is just…. When he came home and saw the princess crying, he threw a fit. He started shouting at everyone, demanding answers so loudly that Princess's head started to hurt badly, and she threw up a lot. When he realized he was causing it, he kept his rage under control until Uncle Harvin opened his mouth.” Eli explains.

“ He is suppressing it. Tell him Harvin is his. Just keep him alive.” Alerix tells.

“ Hmm.. Are you sure?” 

“ Yes.”

I hear Eli's retreating steps. I've been awake since the last fifteen minutes but didn't dare open my eyes. Why? Because I hear more from brothers when I'm pretending to be asleep than when I'm awake. 

They are more clear about their thoughts and plans when I'm unaware, so I eavesdrop a little. Now that they all are gone, I guess it's daddy Princess time.

“ Daddy.” I climb on his lap and hug him. 

“ How's my princess now? Good?” 

“ Yes. I missed you.” I pout at him.

“ I missed you more, baby.” He tightens his arms around me, kissing my forehead. He rocks us slightly. 

Back on earth, I always resisted being touched, even if it was a hand shake, I never liked it. But here that's all that I want to do now. Touched, caressed, loved, adored, held. I guess it had something to do with my nervous system feeling safe.

I have started to understand that there is more to this planet. But with the brothers beside me, I think everything will be fine. 

I'm sucking on Alerix’s shirt collar when we reach home. “ How's she now?” Zed comes to ask. 

“ Better. Hopefully. We just need to be careful for the next few days.” Alerix replies. 

“ Hey, Princess. Come here.” 

I want to go in Zed's arms, but that would mean leaving Alerix’s warm body and collar. I don't want to do that. So, I whine and curl around Alerix. 

“ Why ain't she coming? I missed her when you made me stay here, and now she is not even looking at me. What if she never…” Zed gasps loudly. 

“ Don't be dramatic. She is just tired. Have you brought the file I asked you for?” Alerix asks.

“ Yeah. It's on your office table.”

“ I guess it's time for work then.”

“ I will put her to sleep then.” Zed suggests.

“ Not sleepy.” I mumble in a small voice, collar still in my mouth. 

“ You don't want to sleep, sweetheart?” Alerix asks, so I shake my head.

“ Do you want to play or draw then?” Rey asks this time. Again, I just shake my head in no.

“ She just wants to hang on Alerix.” Eli chuckles. 

“ I guess I'll have to take her with me in my office then.”

“ Before I forget to tell you, Uncle Roman is here.” Zed informs. 

“ What?”

“ Why?”

“ What does he want now?”

“ He wants to attend the ceremony. I guess.” Zed tells.

“ I can't believe this man.” Rey sighs heavily.

Still sucking, I look up at Alerix’s face. He has a faraway look. I don't like that. I want daddy’s attention on me. 

“ Daddy.” Hearing my voice, he looks down and smiles. Better. 

“ Do you want to join me, baby?”

When I nod, we leave for his office.